Plight of the Desperate
by Ketojan
Summary: The Sole Survivor has carved a new world out of the Commonwealth. One in which Raiders no longer have a place. With Nuka World gone, the remaining gangs have been forced to shed their identities and band together. Now they must push forward and regain a foothold before it's too late. Barney, the leader of an upstart gang, must decide the fate of Raiders across the Wastes.
1. Chapter 1: Barney's Lost Boys

2289, a new age…

The Commonwealth, once one of many lost causes, like the Capital Wasteland or Atlanta was once a never ending warzone. The Raiders, Supermutants and the occasional Brotherhood of Steel soldier would battle it out in the streets, firing round after round for hours until it finally came to a stop.

Settlements were few and far between, the few that existed were constantly threatened by invaders, using them to supply their gangs or orders for profit. Life became much harder for the folks in the commonwealth… Until the minutemen came.

Lead by Naomi Eastwood and Preston Garvey, the Minutemen appeared out of nowhere and took the Commonwealth by storm. Within a year, Sanctuary hills to the Starlight drive in became so safe that one could walk there without weapons. Now, the entire Commonwealth is a haven for traders and farmers, to the point that Diamond City is no longer over subscribed.

The natural order has been turned around, with the last bastion of hope, Nuka World, falling to the Minutemen, the Raiders of the Commonwealth are being hunted to extinction. The Gunners, Disciples, Operatives, Pack, Rust Devils, forgers and the free lance raiders have been forced to abandon their identities, banding together.

Numbers are dwindling and though many hard core survivors have banded together, they know that they are facing a losing battle and the only way to win a losing battle?

Look at your odds, your resources, your assets and liabilities and do what you have to do to utilise everything possible.

That is **exactly** what the leaders of these new splinter groups are planning…

First day on the job…

It was Greg's first day on the job and what a day it was. Here he was, stood in his bosses' inner circle as he watched her relentlessly beat some guy to death. He wasn't exactly informed of what he had done to deserve this bludgeoning but, then again, it wasn't healthy to ask questions.

The Boss wanted him dead? Then he was dead…

Honestly, he found it difficult to believe that he was working for Barney. She was, what, twenty? She was probably the youngest person in the room, she didn't even wear any armour or anything as it seemingly just slowed her down.

She had her blonde hair tied up on the side, to create two pigtails and wore a small t-shirt that showed off her entire midriff and incredibly short denim pants that were more or less glorified underwear.

The clothes she wore stuck to a pink and black colour scheme, it was difficult to tell if this was by choice but somehow Greg figured that it was 50/50 as far as possibilities went and it didn't matter either way.

She had the most hypnotising form, just… perfect in every way. She could've been anything in Diamond City, a singer or a dancer… before the war she probably would've been homecoming queen and yet, here she was, beating some poor asshole to death for seemingly no reason.

Greg flinched as a big spot of blood flew across the room, hitting him in the eye and causing him to wince as he reached up for it. He scrubbed, furiously, in an effort to clear his vision up again.

He didn't think it would be like this… He expected violence, sure but outside, like in settlements and stuff, not in this old powerstation on the outskirts of the Commonwealth. Still, he wasn't going to question it, that's probably what this poor bastard did.

His Brother was a Raider, Pack, wore a pig mask with pride as he butchered people, not worrying at all that he looked ridiculous. He was loved so much that he was assigned to the safari park, down at Nuka World and was sadly, never seen again…

His Dad was a Gunner but Rick, his Big Bro, didn't like it. The Gunners were some mean sons of bitches and Zachariah was too mean, even for them.

Oh no, not mean as in harsh or cruel, mean as in tight fisted. Yeah, they had the best gear in the wastes but what did they do with it? Pose as a mercenary company, like dumb assholes!

Barney was smarter than them, at least he hoped so. She was a bitch with her baseball bat and nuttier than squirrel shit. They also say that she's brilliant, like, Porter Gauge brilliant. Just think of the possibilities if that's true. How far could she take this little outfit of her's?

"Whew! Right! I need a new messenger!" She gasped, dropping her baseball bat to the floor as she spun around on her heals, pacing back over to her throne and gently lowering herself onto it, propping her head up with her right hand.

"Someone go down to Concord with my reply please, tell 'em I'm sorry but they need to send a mailman who's gay next time, so he doesn't stare at my tits."

"I'll do it." The nearest guard informed her, he was a bald, heavily burned man with a permanent scowl.

"Thanks darl!" Barney cheered as she swivelled her bum around on the chair and threw her legs over the left arm as she leant back on the right.

"I'm gonna need you to split into two teams. Team A's gonna need to get the gear together, since we ain't coming back to this place. It's shit. We need to find somewhere better, somewhere… **much** better!"

"Alright, we've had a few ideas actually." The Burned Man said, taking the folded reply from the dead messenger's corpse.

"What's team B gonna do?"

"Team B? Well, team B will be one guy really, I need someone to eat me out… erm…" She peered around, quickly poking her finger at Greg.

"Him, I'll give the new boy a spin!"

"Wait… What?" Greg couldn't help but splutter as his words escaped him.

"You want me to…"

"Give me head, yeah, I'm stressed and I need to unwind." She insisted, throwing her legs back over to the floor.

"Is there a problem?"

"Huh? N-No! No problem at all, it's just… I wasn't expecting it."

"Neither was I, just stop expecting things kid, you'll do well around here."

'Kid,' Greg was older than her but somehow, he didn't feel it. The girl had old eyes, to the point that one would think she was thirty if they looked into them. She was tired and war torn and hid it all behind a manic grin…

"Right, chop chop! Newboy, come with me, the rest of you, make sure that you don't leave anything behind. Chinese Assault Rifles are in their own compartment nowadays, so don't forget 'em."

"Yes Ma'am."

As Greg stepped forward, he felt the Burned Man grab him by the arm, prompting him to look him straight in his jerky-like face.

"Don't get her too excited, she'll kill you if you do…"

Greg couldn't help but let his concern show as his eyes widened a little.

"Wh-What?"

"She'll strangle the life out of you, trust me, just do what you need to but don't go too far, yeah?"

Greg nodded quickly before running off after her.

"Thank you." He Mumbled, hurriedly after he went after her, prompting the older man to shake his head as he watched them both leave. It was odd, though nobody seemed particularly envious of Greg, they should be but they weren't, which had him worried.

Given how lethal a good job was, how well received would a terrible job be? This was a first time for Greg and he barely had a grasp of the concept.

He just needed to not screw it up… That was the best he could hope for.

Barney lay in her bed, now completely undressed. She'd received quite the ravishing from the new guy… poor guy must be, what, 23? He'd completely fucked the blowjob up but he tried his best and in the end, that's all that mattered, right?

She'd had a bit of fun with him and now it was time to go back to work. In all honesty, this was what she was looking forward to the most, simply lying, propped up in her bed and examining the strange component that she'd pulled from the corpse of the messenger.

There was no doubt about it… This was a synth component.

If anyone were to ask if she knew that he was a synth, she would've said 'of course I knew!' but in all honesty, this was just an added bonus. She began to wonder if this was an Institute trap, why would a Raider Gang send a suit to represent them? It made no damn sense…

Well, actually, it made sense, if you thought along the lines of 'this is them fucking with us' but somehow she doubted that it was that simple.

There was something else going on, that guy was too well dressed for a raider but too grubby for institute. Sure, Institute could be anyone but he looked like he was from Diamond City…

Barney rolled out of bed and threw her legs over the side, quickly slipping her legs into some underwear to make herself decent.

She never got that expression, 'decent' as Barney was _fabulous_ when naked, maybe that's what it meant. Didn't want all the men hypnotised by her knockers that even robots found themselves drawn to them.

It felt odd, even now, wearing so little on a daily basis… She liked it, quite a bit. So many years of oppression left a lot of time to make up for, all those wasted years in bald of the knee skirts and blouses.

Fucking YUCK!

The first thing she did, after escaping that shit hole was burn her clothes. Grey and white, the visual representation of boredom and lifelessness…

She quickly pulled her shirt over her head as she heard Greg begin to stir and wanted to be there to see him stiffen in horror as he realised that he fell asleep.

Predictably, he did so and his eyes quickly fell on her with a void look as he lay waiting for her reaction. It looked like he was waiting for her to bash his skull in, which was a little insulting. A cutey like him would be wasted if he was killed in such an impersonal way, if she wanted to kill him, he'd have to go the way of a sensual strangling.

"Rise and shine." She said, cheerfully as she pulled her pants up her legs, trying not to stumble about.

"We got to move, remember?"

"Y-Yes." Greg grumbled as he rolled out of bed.

"S-Sorry Boss!"

Barney scrunched up her nose, staring at him suspiciously.

"Hey, I'm not **that** scary, right?" She asked as if probing him to say 'yes' or something to that effect, Greg quickly looked around.

"I just… Didn't want to keep you waiting."

"How considerate." She grinned, resting her baseball bat on her shoulders.

"Seriously, you should lighten up kiddo! I don't kill my own people y'know… Not often anyway, I am trying to be good."

"Trying?" Greg asked, meekly as he buttoned his pants up, trying to keep his attention fixed on her, mostly for his own safety.

"Well, you know how it is. Some people push me a little too far, like new guys who won't fess up!" She growled, thrusting her bat at him and making him flinch before bursting into a brief giggling fit.

"Kid-ding!" She called out, stumbling backward.

"I'd **never** kill a guy on his first day! Okay… Maybe I would but I don't want to kill a guy on his first day. Besides, you have a nice face, don't want to go, fucking it up."

Greg did the only thing anyone could do in his situation, he nodded, like he understood what she was wittering on about but in all honesty was considering whether or not he had made a mistake, right up until his eyes fell onto the synth component and her bedside.

"What's that, Boss?" He asked, finding himself curious and prompting the Raider Boss to look back over her shoulder.

"Oh... I got it off that dead guy, out there. Some sort of gizmo... Dunno what it does." She shrugged and rested her baseball bat on her shoulder.

"I think it could be worth something."

"It looks... very high tech." The Raider observed as he picked it up, Barney didn't say that he could but A. First day and B. He's cute.

"Hey, you don't think it's Institute, do ya?"

Barney simply scoffed at the notion, shaking her head with a light smirk.

"C'mon now, institute comin' after us? What the hell would be the point?"

"Hell if I know, what's the point in half of the shit that they do?"

"To infiltrate and undermine society, silly and we ain't society!" Barney pointed out, getting a confused look from Greg as she gently lifted it out of his hands, that was a few more syllables than he was expecting...

"Leave the thinkin' to me, Hon, don't want you gettin' wrinkles now. Then I'll truly have no use for you." Barney grinned as she pocketed the Component.

Greg nodded, quickly sliding out of bed as he threw some clothes on. He seemed quite unnerved about this whole situation, something that Barney was fully aware of, if anything it just made him even cuter. There was a certain adorable asset to a frightened face, especially if it was you doing the frightening.

"Can I ask you somethin' Boss?"

"You just did." She pointed out, with a shrug.

"Alright, can I ask you somethin'... Personal?"

Barney couldn't help but grin, quickly leaning over and taking a seat on his lap with her arms wrapped around his neck, staring into his eyes with a manic grin.

"Oooh, can't wait to hear what. Go on..."

"Where are you from?"

Barney paused, almost flinching as the grin faded, she seemed almost... shocked to be asked that.

"Why?"

"Everythin' about you, doesn't really add up, it's like you're..."

"I'm...?"

"Like you weren't always this way."

Barney flinched again, damn, this kid was observant. A lot more than the other knuckleheads that she hung out with.

"I think we gotta go, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah... I guess..." Greg agreed, sheepishly as he looked away and nodded, though his eyes quickly fell back on her.

"Though you didn't answer my question."

"Nope. I guess you'll have to not die to hear the answer." She shrugged, hopping off of his lap and marching towards the door, picking up her baseball bat up off of the floor.

"I'm ready!" She sang, stepping over to front door and kicking it open, she took a deep breath and stepped outside.

"Annabelle!? Honey?"

Mrgh...

"Annabelle!"

"Right!"

Urgh, do they ever ever ever give it a rest? This mundane world, how do they cope?

She quickly sat up, rolling over to look over the bed and burying her head in her hands. How was she to cope? How was she going to achieve anything with these constant interruptions!?

"Annabelle!"

Since when did 'right I'm coming!" translate to 'no, I refuse!'?

"RIGHT!"

She just needed a few hours to think, to get her thoughts down but how was one supposed to record their true feelings if they can't even stop to think for thirty seconds?

She huffed, grabbing hold of the door with her woolen gloves. It confused people that they were falling apart and fingerless, despite the fact that they were **supposed** to look like that.

The trimmed miniskirt, the tights with a hole in the knee, the colour of her outfit. These things were so oddly confusing to other people. Was looking different such a crime? Was _being_ different such a crime?

It was 2286, surely it was time to change our look. The photographs from 2077 look like they were taken yesterday. This town, it was the town that stood still, the town that never moved or changed...

It was purgatory...

In fact, no, it was hell...

Annabelle stepped down the stairs, ensuring that her battered old boots hit every step on the way down with a huge thud and alerted her near deaf/senseless parents that she had indeed remembered that the stale food was waiting for her on the table.

"Annabelle, your dinner is going cold!"

"Fuck, Mom it's not going to exactly freeze over, is it? It's a Salsbury steak for fuck's sake!"

"Language!"

"Urgh, fine... Whatever." Annabelle scoffed, taking a seat at the table.

Both of her parents just went straight back to eating, why bother with something as fun and abnormal as conflict, when mundane food called. Cut all phone calls short, never finish that last note, never say that last good bye or steal a kiss.

If the mundane calls, you must come a running. Run like pigeons running towards bread... at least, she thought that's what pigeons did, personally she'd never seen one but she did see one in a book once.

"So, how was school?" Annabelle's Mother asked, finding herself suddenly curious as her daughter shoved a mouthful of pees in, without any pause to consider how they tasted.

They just tasted like old feet anyway...

"Shit."

"You can't just say that, there has to be a reason."

"Okay, it was about the same as any other school day."

"Did you... Learn anything?"

"I learned where Mr Galloway keeps his whiskey." She shrugged, shovelling in a mouthful of pees.

"Keeps it under lock and key in his drawer."

"How do you know this?" Her Mother asked, looking to her Father for some re-assurance.

"Been looking into it, wanted to win the pool. Decided to set the fire alarm off and see where he looked, you always look at what you value most, in which case it was the sweet nectar that helped him dull the pain of having to deal with us shits."

"You... Set the fire alarm off?"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't ever. I got Billy to do it."

"Billy Landford?"

"That's the one."

Annabelle's Mother scowled, leaning back in her chair and bringing her hand to her face.

"I can't believe you! Do you have any idea what would happen if you were caught?"

"I can't be caught if I'm not the one doing it. Billy doesn't care and he got ten percent of my winnings, so it was all good."

"Setting off the fire alarm is serious Annabelle, it's a very serious crime." Her Father interrupted, putting his fork down.

"I thought we raised you better than this! You're too old for this shit!"

"Language Henry..." Her Mother interjected.

"I made $30, through that stupid stunt. I wouldn't just push the button Dad, I just wanted to win the money."

"By putting lives at risk? Didn't the whole building have to be evacuated? The Fire Department get called out again?"

"Yep... Gave those boys something to do, when was the last time we had a fire here? Even the volunteer service sees no action."

"Annabelle, we only need one fire to lose everybody in that school!"

"Pfft, there's a million exits, it'd be fine." Annabelle sighed, taking another bite of her food.

"I would've thought you'd be impressed... Given that I solved a mystery and won all of that money, money we can spend on a vacation."

Her Father sighed heavily, shaking his head.

"Annabelle, nobody goes on Vacation. Nobody has ever been in our lifetimes."

"Steph went..."

"Yes, though she needed it, she wasn't well." Her Mother pointed out, with a rather irritable sigh as they went back to eating.

"So? We just need to babble about the sky falling and we can go on Vacation as well."

"Annabelle, that isn't funny. She suffered from paranoid delusions, it's not her fault." Her Mother said, not wanting to hear anymore mockery, that was directed at that poor girl.

"Pfft, I'm sure the Mayor put it just as delicately." Anabelle sighed, noticing that she was almost done.

"Hey, I heard something today. Something about there being an... Event at the park, in town?"

"Yeah, music, fun... that kind of thing." Anabelle explained, with a shrug.

"I'm providing music, Billy is coordinating the sports, Eric the Weather, etcetera..."

"Weather?" Anabelle's Mother asked, curiously.

"I didn't think you kids could care less about the Weather."

"Heh, we don't but nobody really cares about anything there. It's just that none of us have the same talents. So, we just do our best to appreciate eachother's. Nobody likes my music but they listen, because I don't like their sports and I play it.

It's... Just nice, seeing eachother at our best, y'know?"

Anabelle's Mother nodded in slight agreement, with a faint smile.

"You should give that Eric boy a chance, you know." Her Mother began, prompting Anabelle to choke on whatever it was she downed last.

"What the... Mom!? Where the shit did that come from?"

"He likes you, I can tell."

"You think **everyone** likes me! I'm pretty sure that Eric isn't interested and even if he was, two people aren't going to suddenly want to bang eachother, because one of their Mother's thinks that it's a good idea."

"W-What!?" Anabelle's Mother asked, somewhat shocked to hear her say that.

"Where do you even... Hear this sort of language?"

"I leave the house, listen to other people." She shrugged.

"It's not hard."

"Still, that's not what I meant, I meant that you and him could grow close... get married and have a family or... something a little more pure than what you think I meant at the very least."

"Mrgh, I'm not sure I see that happening with _any_ of the guys in my town. They're all... All of them feel like they were manufactured by this town, none of them feel like me. Even Billy is an idiot jock, straight from the 1950s, it's like they're all actors, with a part to play.

I just don't know mine..."

As she finished speaking, she pulled herself away from the dinner table and began her ascent. She had been preparing herself all week and now, it was coming to a close, the final curtain.

She stepped into her room and threw herself onto her bed, taking a deep breath before rolling over, looking a stuffed bear in the face. It didn't seem to respond, given that it was an inanimate object.

"Not long off now, Barnes…"

 _"Why do you keep talking to me about it, you know I don't approve."_

"What's your alternative? Hmm? Live here? Clean pots? Have babies and die? That's what they want! It's the only way that you can get out of this shit hole town!"

 _"So, what? You and your friends are going to find your own means of escape? Seems a little… It doesn't seem right is all. There has to be a better way."_

"I'm all ears, if you can think of one."

 _"I can't think, I'm a bear."_

"That's your excuse for everything Barney!" Anabelle sighed as she rolled onto her back, staring up to the ceiling with a faint smile, gently rubbing her stomach as she slowly exposed it to the world.

"We'll drink, dance, sing, play… Make love…

We'll have one last perfect night together, one last moment that will be **perfect!** "

 _"Then…"_

"And then, we'll end it!"


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting of the minds

**A:N/ Had a burst of inspiration lately as most people can see, I'm so thankful for the feedback, I will always do my best to provide the best material I can. There's a massive heatwave at the moment and concentrating on proof reading is harder than usual, I've gone over this three times but I know I'll have missed something, sorry in advance. :)/**

"This can't be the place..."

Barney looked back to one of her men, indignantly. Obviously this was the place, though it couldn't be... How in the hell of it could **she** of all people have been invited to Diamond City?

"Dunno, maybe it's Raider Pride day, c'mon anyway, let's ask..." The group approached the guards, who didn't seem remotely threatened by their presence, they were definitely expecting them.

There were twelve of them in total, quite small for a gang but not uncommon back in the day. They were well armoured and stocked and most of them didn't look like they needed weapons or armour, just a hand free to break someone's skull with.

It was difficult to tell who was more out of place, Barney or the gang of marauders behind her... Either way, she didn't look like she belonged with them.

"Hey there hon, I'm sorry but you're going to have to turn over your weapons. Don't want your boys causing too much trouble."

"You know, it won't do for a knuckle dragging idiot, who can't even spell his own name to condescend to me, like I'm a five year old girl and it also won't do for you to try and trick me out of exercising my second amendment rights.

So why don't you be a good little cherub and go back to the Mayor and tell him that we're going to this meetin' and if that means we gotta empty our guns to get there? Then so be it!" She snarled, poking her silenced pistol into his face and getting the guard to flinch.

"Marco!" Shouted a familiar deep voice, one dripping with slime and false words.

"We don't harass guests at the door... That is **not** the Diamond City way."

"But... Boss, they're..."

"New to Diamond City and haven't committed any crimes towards us before, I invited them afterall."

"Wait, what?" Greg asked, though Barney didn't seem remotely surprised.

"I was hoping to offer you a chance for you to... Reconcile your differences, so that we can look forward to the future, to both your gangs and the future of Diamond City as a whole!"

"The Diamond City way, right!?" Barney yelled, with a grin.

"Of course, you're going to let my boys who were banned in. They'll be on their best behaviour as well as the Ghoul in my group."

The group members looked around, looking to identify the 'ghoul' in their group. Though there didn't seem to be one. Of course, given that a few of them were wearing sacks on their heads and other means to hide their identities.

"R-Right, of course. Same rules apply though, any of them misbehave and..."

"They'll be out on their asses, yeah, yeah. Can we just get to the Dugout inn? I'm hungry and the boys are looking to drown their years of child abuse and sexual oppression with a stiff drink or twelve."

"Oh, of... of course. Please, you lead the way and my security officers will escort you down there. We don't want any complications, do we?"

"Oh, of course not... Boys? Weapons out and as you walk, snarl at as many locals as you can. We don't want any complications, do we? We gotta tell these folks that we ain't to be fucked with!" She beamed, stepping towards the city with a rather confident stride, it was almost like a sailor's walk, with her hips swaying or more accurately rolling.

McDonaugh sighed, figuring that would do, a cease fire with weapons drawn is still a cease fire right? The fat old man turned around and began to walk away from the group members, seeming to do his best to distance himself from his new 'guests.'

"Hey, tubby! You aren't comin' with us?" Barney asked, getting the Mayor to turn back, somewhat flustered.

"Oh ho, no... I'm a little too old to be seen with a group of young rebels, like yourselves."

"In other words, he don't want to get his hands dirty, hangin' out with us scumbags?" A shaved headed Raider asked, stepping forward as if he was incredibly insulted by that.

"Oh, of course not! Mayor McDonough is just worried that he'll cramp our style is all!" Barney grinned wrapping an arm around the Mayor and pushing him forward.

"C'mon Mr Mayor, us scumbags have gotta stick together!"

"Sc-Scumbags?"

"Yeah, I got the baseball bat, you got the brief case! We're both two different breeds of Scumbag!" Barney grinned as she pushed him forward, she knew the game of Politics all too well and in her town, the Mayor was the biggest scumbag of all.

She was glad that some things never changed...

"Alright, you know how to pitch?" Billy asked her, though she had no idea what the fuck that meant.

"Erm... You mean, when I sing?"

"No, when you throw a baseball!"

"You... Throw baseballs?" Annabelle asked, pretending to be baffled by the concept.

"No... Wait, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

This prompted Annabelle to pause, with a faint smirk on her lips, she eventually shrugged.

"Yep."

Annabelle stepped forward, it was odd but knowing that things were going to end tonight, that her entire world was going to come to an end, it brought her some form of comfort. Nothing could go wrong tonight, not until it was supposed to.

St Mary's Park, no idea which St Mary it was, if there was more than one or why it was named after them but Anabelle had learned long ago not to question these things. Well, at least not in public...

Everyone in this town had a phobia of Inquisitive minds, everyone over the age of 25 anyway. Everyone under that age just felt so lost, like the world around them just didn't make sense.

The Park was a refuge in a sea of mediocrity, isolated and without any form of surveillance. It looked like it was designed for the Elderly, with its benches and fountain but they never seemed to come. It was only the kids who played here and until recently, Anabelle wondered if it was because of their somewhat unconventional lifestyles, however, Eric's most recent discovery made it clear that it was fate that brought them here or something along those lines.

It was out here as he was combing the environment that he noticed it, something that could be easily overlooked, given that it was hidden behind a bush. If it weren't for Billy's slugger abilities, this astounding discovery would never have been made.

Yet here it was...

Behind the bush, on the outskirts of town was something that you wouldn't normally expect to see, when looking at the horizon.

A crack.

A crack in the very fabric of reality as Eric said, wanting this to be like his dumb sci fi shows. There was a crack, so faint, yet so very real. It was as Anabelle ran her finger along its sharp edges that she noticed two things. One was that the sky around it could be touched and the other was that the sky around it also flickered, like a dying monitor.

It was at that point that the four of them, Anabelle, Chloe, Eric and Billy were forced to make one very important conclusion. It was at that point that they realised, everything that they knew was a lie.

Eric studied the meteorology of this town and noticed a pattern in the weather... as in, the weather was the exact same sequence of events, every day, every year.

5th of May was always sunny, 14th of April always rained. It never snowed in April or became scorching in September. It was incredibly predictable, to the point that it felt... Entirely wrong. Why have meteorology to begin with? The weather had been the exact same since records began, centuries ago.

It was artificial, everything, from the grass to the sky, it was all a lie and today, they would unveil the truth that it covered.

"Anabelle!"

This broke her attention, getting her to look back to the young Sports Fanatic with a look of confusion before realising that Chloe was already at second base, which considering that she was rather on the large side, meant that Anabelle must've been daydreaming for some time.

"R-Right!"

She took off, jogging across the field as she rushed over to the position of the ball, thankfully it was white in a lush green field of grass. She threw it back to Billy, who moved into position, catching it as soon as he could.

"And you're..." He turned around, ready to say 'out' but then realised that Chloe was comfortably sat on the bench, with Eric making his way up to the mark.

"Up!" Eric finished for him, with a grin.

"Mrgh... Anabelle, pay attention, you could cost us the game here!"

"Sorry!" In truth, she didn't care but Billy did and that was the very foundation of these little park visits. It didn't matter what you liked or what you didn't like, you did it anyway as life was too lacking in variety to insist on doing the same things over and over again. Out here, you got to be yourself and that should be celebrated.

Besides, there was nobody else with their actual interests, feigned interest was the best they were going to get...

"Batter up Eric! Try not to hurt yourself this time!" Billy chided as he got into position, getting the rather skinny young man in the bowl cut to scoff and roll his eyes.

"I did that **once** Billy... A year ago!"

Billy used this as a distraction, pitching the ball straight at him, it hurled at a rather impressive speed for an amateur, though Eric was quick to deflect it out of fear. Anabelle wanted to cheer him on, though sadly, she had to stop him, she rushed on ahead to catch the ball, hoping that Eric would make it.

She always hoped that Eric would make it...

Barney was sat to the left of the long, oak dining table that they were using for the meeting. Bottles of purified water lay scattered around it as well as a few Fancy Lad snack cakes. It was all very fanciful, a bit too fanciful...

She looked around at the other gangs, most of which were leather clad, some were dressed like animals that had had a rainbow throw up on them. Those guys were what remained of the Pack, a once proud group that came from a zoo, out at Nuka World. Now, barely any of them were left...

The Disciples were a similar story, their leader was a guy named Edgar, not what one would expect from a Disciples leader at all as he was very elegant. He looked more like an Operative leader but it was obvious that he'd seen too much violence to survive in that kind of life. He had incredibly short dark brown hair and was clean shaven, he gave everyone a look of suspicion.

Everyone but his partner, a man with severe burns on the left side of his face, scars on the other side of his face. The burns went down his neck and presumably covered some of his body as well, his ear remained plastered to the side of head.

He was pretty cute, in a... Creepy dead burned guy who haunts your dreams kinda way...

Finally, there was the Operatives, somehow there was no short supply of snooty bitches, the leader of the Operatives was said to be the snootiest bitch of them all. A dark skinned man with blonde hair, permanently in that Operator Quiff that screamed 'yes I like men and no I'm not taken.'

The Gunners insisted on being the head of the table, sure they were the best armed and they had the highest number of recruits but even they were but a shadow of who they used to be. Their head was a guy named Hannibal, who looked old enough to be Barney's grandfather... possibly great grandfather. Rumour has it that he was pulled out of retirement and given that he was old enough to retire, that must mean he was good...

Possibly the best.

Finally, there was her gang, the Lost. They were quite new on the scene, quite small but very successful. Barney was quite particular about what kind of people she wanted in her band of merry men, she was also quite particular about the jobs she took as well.

There were other Raider groups, dime-a-dozen small time scumbags and a few that had just devolved into feral assholes like the Forged. The Forged and the Disciples merged some time ago, when cute burned guy and Icy Eyes became a couple.

Okay, they were business partners but in Barney's head they were a couple. They made a cute couple anyway...

So, here they were... Five of the scariest band of lost causes that the Commonwealth had to offer, who two years ago would've been on the value range at Super-Duper Mart.

"Ladies, Gentlemen..." McDonagh began in his husky voice, getting Barney's attention, the ramblings simmered down as well, since anyone talking after the meeting started would probably get shot.

"I understand that you have all had some difficulty, over the past two years, with a certain... Individual and her settlements, a Miss Naomi Eastwood."

"Fuckin' bitch..." Cute Burned Guy murmured under his breath, getting Barney's attention, she wondered if the two of the had some history, maybe she caught Cold Eye guy's icy eyes for longer than a second and he's been jealous ever since, ain't no fury like a lover scorned as they say.

"We're already aware of our problems, the question is: How are they yours?" Icy Eyed Guy observed, which was a very good point.

"Well, her social reform has caused some major harm to Diamond City, particularly where the financially stronger citizens are concerned."

"Didn't she kill 'em all? Course, she didn't get caught, so you can't pin it on her..." Barney grinned.

"Course, it's your problem now, because nobody has to take your shit anymore. You were once over subscribed but now that nobody is afraid of us, people are flockin' in droves to Sanctuary, Vault 88, Jamaica Plains... hell, even Goodneighbour is a more desirable location to live these days, due to its more handsome and less douchey Mayor.

Erm... No offense."

"I'm afraid I'll have to take the offense, Miss Barney but you're right... In some respects, our town is suffering at the hands of Naomi's rapid expansion."

"Sounds more like your problem than our problem... Twelve months ago, you would've shot us on sight." Cute Burned Guy observed, a well made point indeed, though she was a tad biased...

"Now, now... I know that you don't exactly trust me, given that we were once Mortal enemies but I would like to provide you all with the opportunity of a lifetime."

"That is?" Cute Burned Guy asked, seeming rather impatient.

"He wants us to work together to bring down a settlement, so that he doesn't have to dirty his hands." His partner answered, getting a few disgruntled grumbles around the room.

"If you want to put it that way, that is your right. I know that you Raiders have your own way of seeing and doing things."

"Don't patronise us, dick sponge or me and my boys might just decorate this town with your entrails."

"Hey, not a bad idea actually." Cute burned Guy agreed, with a quick nod and nobody seemed to disagree. The Operative Leader, Eustice, rose to his feet, placing his cane on the table.

"Now everybody settle down! This here's a talk, let's look at our options!"

"Agreed! I mean, sacking Diamond City is one option but this place ain't no Nuka-World. We'll be fuckin' bored here after a week."

"It's a start... a place to call our own." Cute Burned Guy pointed out, getting a few nods in response.

"For how long? If Nuka World fell in a matter of minutes, how long do you think this place'll last? Naomi is the problem here, with her out of the picture? We'll be able to take any damn city we want and **hold** it.

To take her down? We take out her settlements."

"They say that the woman can't be killed... Now, I'm not one for superstition but I think that Britney is right. We want to be attacking her, not her attacking us."

" **Barney** , my name's Barney."

"Ain't Barney a guy's name?" Cute Burned Guy grunted, getting a glare from the young Raider Boss.

"No, it's a unisex name. Good thing you're so pretty..." She scoffed, leaning back in her chair.

"Can you ladies just shut the fuck up and get back to business?" Hannibal grunted, leaning forward.

"I didn't abandon my operation to listen to you two bicker and bitch."

"If I may... I was hoping to provide you with some help as to how you can operate. If you'll give me a chance." McDonagh explained, getting a glare from everyone in the room, tensions were dying down at least.

"Proceed..." Eustice suggested.

"It's quite simple really. I employ you as my 'external security' teams, you can set up Bases around Diamond City and keep a low profile while you plan to make your next move." The Mayor suggested.

"While you do that, you go out and wipe out as many settlements as you can."

"or... We could just take the sweet security job." Barney suggested, with a shrug.

"Think about it, we get paid, we get to kill people and loot places and we get to live as law abiding citizens."

"Ah... No, I'm sorry but I'm afraid that you'll intimidate those coming to Diamond City on Business. I'm afraid that this is going to be, at best, a temporary agreement."

"That's the idea, dipshit. We stand out there, pose and look mean and nobody bothers your shit hole city again. Sounds like a good deal to me!"

"of course it does, you benefit 100% from that deal."

"Which is what I said... Good deal **to me**." Barney grunted, quickly getting a dismissive gesture from the back by Hannibal.

"Not to mention, hon, that we're raiders, not mall cops."

"Oh yeah? How's that working out for you?" She asked, leaning forward.

"It was going okay, until I got called out here!"

"Please, people... take my offer into consideration! Please! You can take the settlements, expand rapidly across the wastes and so long as Diamond City is left alone, you're welcome to do as you please."

"Ah, the economics of violence. A chaotic world is far more prosperous than a world in peace time, ain't it?" Eunice observed.

"Something like that, yes." McDonagh grunted, leaning forward.

"Now I've risked a lot by associating myself with you, I got you here and I..."

"Yeah, you risked a **lot** but not what you're making us think you're risking." Barney interjected, drawing the Synth Component from her pocket and slamming it on the table in front of her.

"Sorry, I know that there's that rule about 'don't shoot the messenger' but there's no rule about beating him to death with a baseball bat." Barney shrugged, leaning back in her chair.

"I found this in his body. Look familiar?"

Everyone moved away from the device, like she had put an explosive on the table, every gun in the room was drawn, even those owned by Barney's people and every site was fixated on McDonagh, if every trigger in the room was fired now, his Synth Component would hit the ceiling.

McDonagh's Security Guards raised their rifles, readying to return fire, there was at least twelve of them stationed around the room, enough to kill all of the gang members if they fired blindly into the crowd.

"It's a fuckin' set up!" Cute Burned Guy gasped, he seemed genuinely fear stricken.

"They're tryin' to round us up! Turn us into Synths!"

"Fuckin' Institute Bastards!" Hannibal growled, marching forward.

"Noami had you set us up, didn't she? She's goin' to replace **everyone** with Synths! I ain't gonna let that happen, you son of a..."

"Wait, everyone! Stop! I can explain!" McDonagh bumbled, hands raised highly.

"I **am** with the Institute as... Barney has rightly informed you but make no mistake, I didn't call you here as enemies or even to be converted into Synths. I stopped receiving my orders months ago, the Insitute has gone dark, ever since that **_bitch_** Naomi took over!

Whatever she's doing is hurting me, just as much as it is you. The City? It would get by... But the Institute? She must be destroyed before it is."

"Like any of us give a fuck about the Institute being destroyed, everyone knows that Naomi is _with_ the Institute."

"Wait... Hold the fuck, let's just... think a second!" Barney insisted, leaning forward.

"The Institute is funding us. Do you see that? The Institute, is funding Raiders! When has this ever happened before?"

"Never..." Hannibal pointed out, with a shrug.

"Exactly, imagine the sweet goodies that we can get!" She grinned, taking a seat next to McDonagh.

"I'll help but I want you guys to make me a synth, make him six feet tall, really handsome and program him to be _amazing_ in bed!"

"You're asking me to request you a sex doll?"

"Oh, you do those? Yeah, I'll take one of them as well. Some of the boys might want it... Oooh, actually, could you synth clone me? I could do with some prostitute versions of myself..."

"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Your requests are simply... depraved!

Weren't you listening, at all? The Institute has gone dark!"

Everyone paused, lowering their weapons and taking a seat again as the tension had all but gone again, it would seem that McDonagh may actually be genuine, with his offer of an alliance.

"I cannot offer you anything from the Institute, I am afraid. Not even Institute weapons."

"Not even T-Shirts?" Barney pouted, prompting the Mayor to roll his eyes.

"Let's dial back a bit... He's offering us land to call our own but we'd like you sweeten the deal... We want caps and to be well equipped." Icy Eyes interjected, getting a nod from his partner.

"Guns, armour, materials..."

"Workers for the land." Eustice added.

"Booze as well!" Greg insisted, getting a nudge from his boss.

"Now you're getting it!" She giggled.

"Yes, I'll set you up with all of your well needed supplies. Can you take Settlements back from Naomi?"

The Raiders glanced to one another, after a long pause, Hannibal sighed and stood up.

"We should put this to a vote... Who's in?"

Barney was the first to throw her lot in, it seemed like fun at the very least. Diamond City backing her and her people, it wasn't so much a time to fight to prosper but a time to fight for their very survival.

The others quickly threw their lot in, one after another, within a minute, everyone was in, albeit hesitantly...

The Diamond City Pact had been formed...


End file.
